Foodservice Issues

Spotlights the challenges and opportunities that impact the application of foodservice equipment and supplies in the real world including green and energy efficiency concerns, foodservice equipment concerns, the impact of technology on foodservice, and the state of the foodservice economy.

With operator budgets remaining tight due to a variety of economic factors, the temptation remains to buy used or lesser-known foodservice equipment in order to save a few bucks. Here are a few tips to help foodservice operators tell the good opportunities from the bad.

Sweeping changes in the last few years have affected all members of the foodservice industry. That includes manufacturers' reps, a group that has especially had to adapt to these changes — not to grow, but just to stay in business.

It should be as simple as it sounds. Turn something on when you need it. Turn it off when you don't. Yet for decades kitchen workers have done exactly the opposite. In fact, even the most prestigious of culinary schools have taught future cooks to fire up the grills the moment they walk in the restaurant door, even if service doesn't begin for hours.

Want to check out some of the most exiting things happening in foodservice today? Head back to college. Not to the classroom but to the cafeteria. One quick look around the dining facilities at leading schools large and small today confirms that they look nothing like your father's, mother's, or unless you're fresh out, even your own college cafeteria.

An independent liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin College takes its motto, "The College and the Common Good," to heart in all departments, including and perhaps especially in dining services. Known for high quality that consistently lands it at or near the top of the Princeton Review's annual ranking of best college food, Bowdoin's dining program touts not only great eats but a pacesetting, comprehensive portfolio of sustainability initiatives as well.

The campus of the College of William & Mary (W&M) in Williamsburg, Va., is big on historic charm. Chartered in 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II of England, it's the second oldest college in America, it touts the oldest college building in the United States, and its Colonial Campus section has been restored to its eighteenth century appearance. But it's also a modern, progressive campus in every sense, including its dining program, which stands out in part for its firm commitment to serving students with food allergies and other special dietary needs.

Nearly 40 percent of incoming UCLA freshmen in the 2010-2011 school year were Asian or Pacific Islanders, a core demographic that Peter Angelis, assistant vice chancellor for housing and hospitality services, felt wasn't being adequately served by the school's foodservice program. Students could always choose from a handful of Asian fusion dishes, but they weren't the authentic, home-style foods that those students craved and that so many others raised in culturally diverse Southern California were used to eating in the area's many ethnic restaurants.

Sales at the national burger chain restaurant in the University of California-Santa Barbara student union had been declining for years, so Director of UCen Dining Services Sue Hawkins decided to pull the plug and try something new. Burgers and fries were still in the cards, but Hawkins felt the time was right to kick that formula up a notch and tap into a growing sustainability movement at UCSB.

Big ideas are the order of the day at UMass Amherst Dining Services. How big? Within the past two years, the department twice propelled the University of Massachusetts flagship campus into the Guinness Book of World Records by producing both the world's largest sushi roll and a record-setting 4,010-pound stir fry. The school hosts the largest campus foodservice event in the nation with its annual Taste of UMass, which this year featured 70 food booths, entertainment, celebrity guest appearances, an "Ultimate Cupcake War", and UMass Idol and Dance Dance Revolution contests.

Demand for vegetarian and vegan items on campus continues to rise and most colleges and universities now incorporate a variety of meatless meal options into their menus. But the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton has taken one big Texas-sized step further: Last fall, it opened Mean Greens, a dedicated vegan dining hall thought to be the first of its kind in the nation at a large public university.